London Design Week

I do love my quiet peaceful rural Herefordshire village ....but when London Design Week is on I'm up in London faster than a shot. 

My first mission was 100% Design as it's a show I've been visiting since it begun in tents on the Kings Road. It's gone through many changes, and New House has exhibited twice at 100% Design Tokyo. Walking through the doors, the opening graphics looked good :

 

 
My best 100% stand was Mark and Sally Bailey's Home and Garden store, who are truly design geniuses. I cannot show you any pics, as Mark was busy shooing off groups of Asians (despite the blatant NO-PHOTOGRAPHY signs) so I dared not take any myself.

My most interesting show was Designers Block

Great designers were there, and I especially enjoyed meeting the clever young Korean designers, an amazing RCA weaver, learning about a new design/science project, but my hat came off to a St. Martins collective called Post Textiles. They were amazing, and I'd love to have them pop up amongst New House, as they'd help us deign the future. 

In the evening there was the House & Garden party at the Phillips de Pury & Company

Thank you for everyone who visited us

For us Top Drawer was one of the most enjoyable shows we've done in ages, and met masses of interesting people. Each day one of our talented designers was at the show, and many well-known companies visited our stand, asking us to design new items. However as a small family-run business ourselves, I especially enjoyed chatting to people from similar-sized companies or the many clever vigorous people with great ideas that will shape our retail future in the years to come.

Me (Nick) on our stand

Olympia, with the bee hive of Top Drawer underneath

Top Drawer ...the build-up

I've never been a morning person, but it was 6am when I steered the hired Transit van bringing everything we needed for our Top Drawer stand to London. People often tell me that this is the 'best time of the day', but I don't believe a word of this as I'd always prefer to sleep-in given half a chance.

New House has done lots of shows in many countries over the years, so I know the pulse-raising moments are usually during the build-up. but at Top Drawer the organisers (Clarion Events) were very efficient, and our designers, Melanie & Charlotte had planned everything.....

M & C on our finished stand

my old suitcases

Top Drawer

It’s been a few years since New House took a stand at Top Drawer London, so this September we’re happy to be back. Top Drawer is a ‘trade only’ show, but we’re sure lots of canny public sneak in too. It’s always been a classy show, and a great place to let the retail world know what we've been up to. 

Melanie and Charlotte have designed a nice simple stand, with Charlotte's illustration.....

Sneak preview of a few new things....     Laura Fletcher (our weave specialist) has been working with a historic English weaver to produce boldly coloured woven cushions in glamorous mixes of silk, wool or cotton. Very opulent.

Charlotte has gone all English bone-china, and teamed-up with Roy Kirkham Ltd of Stoke-on-Trent

Meanwhile, in Sweden….. Marianne Westman (now in her 80’s), who designed ‘Picknick’ - Sweden’s most successful homewares design of the 1950’s (also available from New House), has granted permission for her very first commercial design, ‘Belle Amie’ to be manufactured again. Marianne tells the story of when she was young and all her friends were out dating, one weekend she found herself alone, so went into the Swedish countryside to sketch some flowers. Her simple stylised drawings soon became best-sellers, and at Top Drawer, New House are pleased to be offering this lovely 1950's design again as trays,  potstands, fabric and napkins .